Match Day Thread Millwall Away 4 March 2023

[GozoCanary]

Don't allow yourself to be sickened by it Robbie. It's just people expressing differing opinions about football matters. You know, the usual thing that goes on football forums....

I think what sickened most fans was seeing a very talented group of players by Championship standards (as Wagner is proving) languishing in mid-table and playing timid football in a succession of clueless formations because their Head Coach didn't have the slightest idea how to motivate them or utilise them effectively, and then being accused of not being supportive enough when they dared to criticise him.

He's gone, thank God, and Wagner has the unenviable task of trying to rescue something from this season out of the demoralised shambles that he inherited.

 

[mike555]

I think what sickened most fans was seeing a very talented group of players by Championship standards (as Wagner is proving) languishing in mid-table and playing timid football in a succession of clueless formations because their Head Coach didn't have the slightest idea how to motivate them or utilise them effectively, and then being accused of not being supportive enough when they dared to criticise him.

He's gone, thank God, and Wagner has the unenviable task of trying to rescue something from this season out of the demoralised shambles that he inherited.

I , and many thousands of other ignorant fans ( plebs) agree 100% with the above.

So let me see if I have got this right. Our players were not technically gifted enough to play Farkeball in the Premiership. And Smith, with arguably a better squad at his disposal, was unable to coach the players to play a different style of football, because apparently they were not good enough?? If that were true, what chance did Farke ever have of survival during his first season in the Premiership ? As usual Robbie's posts are full of contradictions. I will however, refrain from calling him ignorant.

 

[RiverEndRick]

And a pat on the back for Wagner who had the vision to imagine this use of Sorensen in a game where we were in danger of being bullied and overrun in midfield. My reaction to the line-up was 'WTF is this? I don't understand.' but he got it exactly right.

EDIT: Another big plus of Wagner so far is that he gives his players a job to do and seems to trust them to do it.

I missed this earlier, but Sørensen made a huge difference in the game, providing the first goal and a major presence in both attack and defence. I was surprised that Wagner changed a winning lineup, but Jakob was WhoScored's Motm with a rating of 8.4, just edging out Sara (8.2). Would we have won with him playing at LB? I doubt it.

It's not just about Wagner's tactics, it's his ability to see new dynamic roles for players that improves them and the team as a whole. McLean, Sara, Hernandez, Núñez and Sargent have all spoken about this with enthusiasm and it shows on the pitch in game after game.

Edit: The details of Wagner's success are explained in Ben Lee's latest tactical analysis, which he sums up thus: "Wagner's ability to improve players and make beneficial tactical adjustments between games is incredibly impressive."

https://www.pinkun.com/news/23364635.norwich-city-tactical-analysis-millwall-championship-comeback/

 

[Canary Rob]

Hey! I got tears, tantrums, a telling off and false accusations for this stuff!

 

[GozoCanary]

My view (and clearly the club's view also) was predicated on the belief, which I now recognise to have been false, that the players were good enough, and sufficiently coachable, to adapt to and make a success of a different style of play, better suited to surviving at the top level. That was what Dean Smith was brought in to do. It proved beyond him, but it sickens me how he has been, and continues to be, subjected to often ignorant and ill-founded criticism, never mind ridicule and personal abuse, with little attempt to understand the many contributory factors resulting in the task eventually defeating him.

If I understand this correctly, the crux of your argument is that it was the players who weren't good enough rather than Dean Smith. So far the evidence since he has left (admittedly a very small sample of games) suggests to me that the exact opposite is true - I've seen ample evidence that the players are sufficiently coachable since they are actually adapting very well to a new style of management which is different not only from Smith's but also from Farke's.

I would appeciate, please, some detailing of the 'many contributory factors' that led to the task defeating him. It's difficult to argue against generalities.

 

[Robbie BB]

Ben Lee's tactical analysis of the Millwall game:

https://ncfcanalysis1.wixsite.com/ncfcanalysis/post/millwall-vs-norwich

 

[DUNCAN DONUTS]

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/23374146.i-fell-love---marcelino-nunez-lifts-lid-norwich-city-transfer/


"Nunez's arrival marked the stepping up of City's South American scouting that has also brought Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Sara to Norfolk from Sao Paulo.

Norwich invested more resources in the region after sensing an opportunity upon the change of regulations caused by Brexit. It has yielded success with both additions so far, with the feeling that there is still more to come from their South American duo. "